The Customer Is Always Right?

It's mid October here on the island, and for most businesses this is viewed as the proverbial eye of the storm; the time of year where everyone in the shops just coast through till the tourist traffic picks up again at the holidays. However, not everyone is exhilarated by this thought. Working in any job where you have to provide customer service is largely thankless. Sure, there are some extremely nice people in this world, and when one has the good fortune to interact with them it almost always puts a smile on our face... but, especially in the summers here when we are inundated by the masses, that is all too often NOT the case.
People that work in retail &/or customer service related jobs are routinely dismissed as nothing more than inferior servants. Of course, they are being paid to help you, and their job is to provide specific services to you ... yet they are oftentimes treated with disrespect and stupidity, on a ridiculously regular basis. Enough so that when many quit it's with a resounding "I am never working retail again!"
A lot of people seem to lose their common sense (among other things) when shopping. It's no wonder that many employees are viewed as having a chip on their shoulder, or even worse viewed as "mean," when the majority of their days are spent baby-sitting people that make one question why that customer was let out of the house unsupervised to begin with.
After a little leg work (and copious amounts of laughter) throughout multiple businesses here on Martha's Vineyard .... a view point from behind the counter is about to be revealed....

*One question was posed to every individual spoken with, at each business ... however no businesses/employees will be named, (no one is gettin' thrown under the bus here!) These individual answers to the question really encompass most of the aggravating and exasperating moments.*

What are your biggest customer related pet peeves?

"People asking if they can throw something away, then handing you a used kleenex to dispose of, or a half finished drink. There are trash cans ALL along the street! It drives me crazy how lazy some people are" (not to mention kinda gross! eweee!!- S)

"The ones that don't even acknowledge you, even when you greet them with a friendly "hello!", they just ignore you entirely."

"Oh! That's easy! Any customer that says "it must be free!" when something is missing a price tag or the computer won't scan it. Why does everyone think they are the first person to say this? They are not clever, they are not funny... but I still have to stand there and smile and say "oh, haha, good one!" as if that is the funniest thing I've heard all year."

"I've had customers come in looking for a book, but they have no idea who the author is, and no clue as to the what the title is. Half the time they can't even tell me what they think it's about... and then they get mad at ME for not knowing!"

"The ones that take like over 20 pieces of clothing into a dressing room and proceed to leave them crumpled in a pile on the floor. There are hooks, there are hangers, and there is no reason they can't be more respectful of the merchandise. I often have half a mind to go to their house and take all their clothes out of the closets and drawers and leave them in a big heap on the floor. Why would someone treat something they don't even own like that?!"

"I get a lot of people coming in to buy things for projects they are working on, and when they mention what exactly it is they are doing, and the item they are about to buy is 100% NOT the right thing, I tell them. And almost every time they ignore me and buy it anyway. I was just trying to help, and sometimes save them some money, but they don't ever seem to want to listen to the guy that knows what he's talking about. A few days later they always come back, and they are angry because someone allowed them to buy the wrong item. "Allowed them?!" Ha! Now THAT'S funny!"

"Customers in general, all of them, every last one of them. Obviously I need a new job." (yes, but I kinda love your honesty.-S)

"The parents that let their children destroy the shop and touch EVERYTHING. I can't tell you how many times I have had to re-do displays and wipe sticky fingerprints off of items that children should NOT be picking up and playing with. I'm not a baby sitter! Watch your children or don't have them!"

"Ah! The women that would show up wearing more makeup than a drag queen and proceed to stain almost every article of clothing. Sometimes I'd find lipstick on the HEM of a skirt and I'd be then forced to wonder how in the world that got THERE. Not to mention the ones that managed to create their own personal 'Shroud of Turin' when they decided to blot their "I'm so hot and sweaty from trying on and messing up all these clothes" faces with the lightest colored item in the dressing room. Don't even get me started on deodorant smudges!"

"Yeah, this is a good question! We have quite a few regulars that wear so much perfume it makes our noses sting and eyes water. One in particular would wear so much that when she would try clothes on we'd have to hang them in a separate part of the shop, and sometimes outside, just to try and get the awful scent off."

"Oh man! haha! yeah! The ones that bring back items for returns AFTER they have been used, and broken due to their ineptitude... and want their money back!"

"Customers that think they can get their money back after destroying an article of clothing that was clearly not made for everyday wear. For example, I had a woman once bring in a pair of pants that she bought for her daughter. She tried to return them saying they were "poorly made." When she held them up, the inner thighs of the pants were shredded from what was obviously due to the thighs rubbing together over time. Mind you these pants were over a year old and made of a fairly delicate fabric, and her daughter was not a tiny lil' thing, if you know what I mean. The pants were obviously just too small for her... but she wore them anyway, and when the fabric said "no mas!" suddenly it was the fault of the pants? AND she wanted her money back? Ha! I don't think so! This sort of thing happens A LOT. Why is that ?!" (I have no idea! - S)

"The ones that can't seem to notice when you are helping another customer. They just can't seem to wait their turn."

"Five words: "I am in a hurry"... those are the people that drive me up a wall."

"You know, people ask for discounts all the time, and to be fair, times are tough, I know this, we all know this, but when something is already discounted at 50% off in the middle of summer, or anytime of year for that matter, especially in a store that is clearly not part of a large chain, and they ask for a larger discount ... well that's just insulting. When something is discounted at 50% off it usually means that the store is making NOTHING off the sale, and now someone wants the store to lose money? Not cool."

"I can't stand the people that walk in, tell you upfront that they are "just looking" and "not planing to buy anything" and then proceed to spend an hour messing with the merchandise, asking a zillion questions, wasting my time, and then leaving after not buying anything. "Why did you come in here?!" The same can be said for the ones that come in just to get out of the rain and stand around dripping on the merchandise waiting for the rain to let up. I really wish I could just walk up to them, point at the door and yell "Get Out!"... instead I am stuck with them, and a stupid smile on my face while I patiently wait for them to leave ... 'cause you know they're not buyin' anythin'....they never do"

"The "discount people"... they try to get a discount on everything. Sometimes they even try the whole "I'll pay you X amount in cash for that" line, and the amount they are offering is like $40 LESS than the marked price. What the hell is up with that?"

"oh man! My absolute biggest pet peeve is when a customer goes straight for the window display to pull an item out. They don't stop to look and see where the item might be located in the store, or even ask... they just mess up the display. Not for even a second thinking that the reason they were drawn to that item is because time, effort, and thought were put into the display... the display that they just messed up due to their lack of consideration."

"People that break things and just walk out."

"Customers that feel the need to tell me they think they can get a better deal elsewhere... but still buy the item, bitching the whole time about the better deal they think they could be getting somewhere else. As if I would suddenly give them this magic price they want."

"People that can't grasp the fact that I don't have the authority to give them discounts that the manager hasn't agreed to ahead of time. It's like they WANT to get me in trouble!"

"Pet peeve? oh yeah! The customers that don't understand that I have a life and a family that I need to get home to, and keeping me at the store an hour after it should be closed is just flat out rude. 5 minutes, 10, even 15... okay, I can deal with that, but an hour? I should charge extra for that!"

"Customers that tip 15% or under after I just went to great lengths to get them exactly what they asked for, none of which was on the menu."

"When a person asks me if a certain dish is good, and I tell them I am vegetarian, they get all annoyed that I can't give them an answer. If I offer to grab another server as they are walking by and ask them, they just sigh and say "no, that's okay" then act all annoyed with ME. Soooooo irritating."

"Customers that order their meal, eat half of it, and when I stop back to make sure everything is okay, they tell me they aren't happy and should have ordered "X" instead. I offer to put the order in, apologize that the meal isn't to their liking, and they tell me, "no, it's fine, I just wish I ordered "X"."...... What the hell? Am I their freakin' therapist? If the meal is bad, or there is something wrong with it, yes, tell me... but there is no need to discuss your regrets! A lot of the time they are looking for a discount. Too bad they don't know that is the WRONG way to go about it."

"Cell phones, dear God, get the hell off your cell phones. If the call can not wait, then stay out of the shop till you are done!"

"Rudeness, that's a real easy one right off the top. Also, not paying attention to your children, acquiescing with not paying attention to your children that are throwing a tantrum."

All that said, it is quite well known that there are many employees that really should NOT be working with the public. What most don't take into consideration is that many of these people have had it up to their eyeballs with rude customers and you very well may have come in right after those jerks left. You walked into the line of fire without even knowing it. You may not deserve the cold shoulder you believe you've just received, nor should you be talked down to, or treated as if you are interrupting some serious slacking... but for just for the sake of it, the next time you enter any kind of business where you will encounter an employee... smile. Say "hello," even if they don't. Treat them kindly and with respect. Understand that, especially on this island, not everyone is working their "dream job", the fact that they are even working at all in this economy is amazing. If you can make them smile, it's a guarantee they will reciprocate. If you think I am kidding, try walking into a random store, maybe Cumberland Farms, or the Stop & Shop, and when you get to the cashier, say "hello", use the word "please" when asking for something, say "thank you", and watch the smile spread across their face as they suddenly try to figure out "who brought the nice guy?"